Airlines most likely to lose your luggage

Envoy Air, ExpressJet Airlines and SkyWest Airlines are some of the airlines that lose luggage the most.
(AP)

Losing luggage when traveling by air can be a real bummer. If you’re lucky, you’ll get your bags back fairly quickly. But, as evidenced by a woman who recently got her bags back –two decades later –it can take some time, or never happen at all.

But now there’s a way to avoid those airlines that are likely to lose your bags.[image]The U.S. Department of Transportation, in its Air Travel Consumer Report for 2014, released data that shows the number of mishandled-baggage reported by 14 U.S. airlines. That’s luggage where a report was filed claiming that it had been lost, damaged, delayed, or pilfered.

These might not be huge numbers, but U.S. DOT compares mishandled luggage to the number of all passengers, not just those who checked baggage. A lot of people fly with only carry-ons or no luggage at all -- considering the increasing fees, so it's unclear what the real figures are.

If you do have to check your luggage, check our holiday luggage guide that breaks down the best deals on getting your stuff from point A to point B.